Darth Maul: Predator
by the-unseen-all-seeing-eye
Summary: Darth Maul's ventures, hidden from history until now, are finally revealed, beginning with the one that set the rest in motion, triggering the Domino Effect.


Darth Maul's ventures, before hidden from history, are now revealed to all, starting with the one that set the rest in motion, and triggered the Domino Effect. Originally on .

* * *

><p>This was originally posted on 's fan fiction forum, under the profile theallseeingeye, but then came the Great Wipe, in which everything was swept clean, and all stories exterminated, and they also added this little chestnut saying that only those who pay the monthly subscription can post again, and I am perpetually strapped for cash, so I was forced to leave that community behind. So now I am here.<p>

And so, I present to you:

* * *

><p><strong>Darth Maul: Predator<strong>

The Shadow lurked in the darkness, waiting to strike at any moment and drag everything down into the abyss with him. He made no sound, only waited to lash out and to kill. Yes, to kill. To kill was why he had been forged through suffering, and to kill was why he was here now.

His prey meandered within striking range, and in the blink of an eye, the shadow leapt forward, lingered for half an instant, and was gone as quickly as he had come, leaving only a corpse behind to show that he had ever been there.

As panic broke out around the scene of the murder, the predator sped away, knowing that he had done his job flawlessly. No one had seen, no one had heard, and no one had felt his presence, except his target, and that man was now dead. No one suspected the nature of the crime.

No one suspected that Darth Maul had struck again.

"It is done, Master." He knelt before Darth Sidious and bowed his head.

"Well done, Lord Maul. And now I have another task for you. There is a document of rather sensitive nature that has been obtained by a Nar Shadaa criminal gang leader. He is here on Coruscant for a business meeting, and my sources say that he has brought the document along with him. I require it. You will have no more information, other than his name. This is your next test, Darth Maul. Do not fail me, for you know the consequences if you do." Darth Sidious' holographic image flickered for an instant before shutting down, leaving Maul alone, again.

Darth Maul walked through the streets of Coruscant once more, where he fit in perfectly, with no one even suspecting his business or his allegiance. The tall, red-and-black-tattooed Zabrak pushed his way through the crowds toward the best place to start his investigations: the local cantina.

The trip was long, even though the distance was not all that imposing, but rather, it was the crowds that made passage difficult. The type of people he saw in this area grew more and more shady as he drew closer to the cantina, with people who were, more likely than not, bearing intentions and going about business even worse in nature than his. Many times he jostled a burly member of some species or other, and would have resulted in a fistfight had it not been for Maul's mastery of the Force's persuasive abilities, and he was allowed to keep walking, unhindered, toward his destination.

It was a seedy dive, make no mistake, but he had started so many of his missions here that he knew how to stay hidden and out of trouble in a place like that. It was simply the extracting information that varied in ease-of-access here. Certain people knew certain things, other people knew other things, and a big bunch knew absolutely nothing, only pretended to know them, but once in a while you could really hit upon one who knew exactly what you were looking for, and would be willing to give it to you- for a decent price.

He took a seat at the bar and ordered a mild drink, which took its time coming, but he didn't care, as it was not really all that important. He dropped a credit chip on the table in front of him, and told the Twi'lek bartender to keep whatever was left over. He was on first-name terms with the barman, but he was only referred to as Lyle by the proprietor, a name which, though no one knew but the most selective of historians and linguists, actually meant "liar" in an old Korriban dialect which died out a few dozen millennia back. Maul had thought of using that name because it suited him the best- he had discarded a good many other fitting names in his search for the perfect one. "Liar", in this case, meant the liar who deceives with the intent to kill, or who deceives for the mere thrill of it, for no good and pure reason. Lyle was one of forty-six Korriban term for one who deceives, and it fit just right.

"So what brings you here today?" Jeshakan, the bartender, sidled over to him and leaned forward on his elbows to look Maul in the eyes.

Maul lingered mid-swig in his tall glass before placing it decidedly on the table. It was good, but he could not afford to have more than an ounce or so of alcohol in his system- especially the kind being served down here; there was no telling what you might find in it. There was a story about a man who found a gold ring in his drink, and downed the rest of the drink quickly in celebration, before finding the finger it belonged to at the bottom of the glass. "I need to know- has there been a Sullustan in here from Nar Shadaa by the name of Billo? Medium height, dark grey complexion, mismatched eyes, one black, and the other red- albino-like? He works for a gang boss out of Nars."

Jeshakan did his thing of looking off into the distance, fishing through his vast stores of memories, before answering, "There was a large group that came in here a while ago, and there was a Sullustan with mismatched eyes, but I didn't hear anything from 'em. They came and sat in the corner over there. You know 'em?"

"Someone told me he'd been here, and I wanted to talk to him about something."

"Owe ya money?" Jeshakan licked his teeth, a smile on his face. "Someone did mention the Dangling Bait Hotel down on Thirty-Sixth Street. You could try there."

Maul was off at that very moment, his long cloak billowing out behind him. His hand rested on the lightsaber he knew he would need soon.

The Dangling Bait Hotel had been named because of its owner, apparently. The slimy Selkath who ran it seemed to bite at any chance of money it could get, and only after Maul had waved a fistful of credits in front of its face did it finally tell about the Sullustan, but what he had to say was anything but worth his price.

He's not here," The Selkath said in poorly-dictated Basic. "He left three hours ago."

"Where was he going?" Maul growled, leaning over the reception desk and grabbing the alien by the front of his jacket. "What did he say?"

"Hands off!" The Selkath barked, but Maul only shifted his grip to the creature's throat. "He didn't say anything! I swear! I don't know! You can check his rooms- they haven't been cleaned yet."

"Thank you." A momentary clenching of his fist and the Selkath was lying on the ground, twitching.

Room three's door was open, and the cleaning cart was outside, so it seemed as though the main had intended to clean, but...

There was blood on the floor.

Maul ran around the corner and into the room, to find the maid's body on the floor, with her head cut off with a vibroblade that lay next to her. The room was a mess, and looked like it had been ransacked by two or more parties, judging by how far apart corresponding items were. A cursory scan of the room revealed to him that nothing more could be gained from a full search, but he did so anyway, for the sake of propriety.

The only thing he could tell about his new addition to the roster of enemies was that he was short, but extraordinarily strong. The cut was diagonal n the maid's neck, with the broad side having spewed blood on the corresponding wall, which had been hit with considerable strength, as was obvious by the width of the splashes. It was a single, clean cut which had severed the maid's head, and the blood on the blade was thickest in the middle, which led him to believe that the assailant was five-foot-three, and little else. Motive, however, was another matter entirely. Several possibilities presented themselves, but he could not theorize yet- there were still too many variables involved for that now.

Opening himself up to the Force, or rather the dark side, Maul could feel the trace left behind by the man who killed the maid, but the strange thing was that he seemed unable to feel the presence of the Sullustan. He knew he had been here, but he could not feel him through the Force. Instead, there was an empty space where he should have been, a gap in the Force. This absence seemed to be an individual, but one who could hide himself from the Force itself. This left only two possibilities, as far ass he knew: Ysalimiri, or a Force-sensitive, though the latter had three subcategories. He also 'heard' through the Force, a sort of ticking, a countdown of sorts, coming from—

"Oh, frak." He ran.

There was a glass door on the other side of the room, which led out onto a dusty veranda less than three feet from the ground. He dove out the door, smashing through the glass, forsaking the time needed to cut open the lock, and after he slipped off the veranda, he found himself in an alleyway- a dead-end alleyway on both sides, like a courtyard, separating two buildings.

_Only __way __out __is __up._

Looking toward the sky- which was, in fact, the ceiling of that level of Coruscant- he saw a fire escape on the building opposite, a few meters up, and with the use of the Force, he ran up the side of the building and grabbed hold. He then pushed off and landed on a window of the hotel, before pushing off again and soaring over the roof of the short building with the fire escape, landing in the exact centre just as the hotel blew up, sending shrapnel in all directions. He created a cocoon of protection over himself, and the chunks of rock simply bounced off, rebounding off to somewhere else.

For a few moments, it felt like the barrage would never stop, and with every collision, he felt the shield weakening, but then, the raining stopped, and the searing heat abated, and he let down the shield, which faded away instantly. The roof had suffered collateral damage in the explosion, and the side of the building which had served as his escape route was completely destroyed, but he did not need a firm path to continue- he scaled down the side of the building like a monkey in a jungle, and retraced his steps back to his speeder bike, mulling over recent developments.

Could this be directly related to this important document he was supposed to find? Or was this just a hate crime linked purely by coincidence? In his experience, the latter was highly unlikely.

So, a short, extremely tough creature killed a maid and entered the Sullustan's room, possibly with the invisible man, or perhaps the invisible man was the Sullustan, though that was an unlikely possibility, however convenient it might be. He ransacked the room, less than three hours ago. The short man would be easy to track using the Dark Side, but the other one would be much more difficult, especially only if they were merely master and employee. The only thing that bothered him was the vibroblade. Why leave it there, rather than take it with them? Was it a clue, left deliberately? Maul tried to remember what it looked like.

It had been an average-quality weapon, no doubt bought from any vendor in the street, but he remembered that it had been painted in green, gold, and purple, with some kind of spray-paint. Family colours? Business colours? Or a false trail meant only to delay him? He would ponder it at greater length once he found the short man.

He could tell that he had been along this way, a narrow, winding street filled to the brim with beggars, and his path was illuminated before his as he sped down the way on his bike, knocking beggars over indiscriminately along his route. Their lives did not matter- they were all insignificant, worthy of nothing from him, now even common courtesy- if they died, it would not matter. Maul tried as best he could not to think of theories as to what was really going on, but already he knew that there was more to this than he was aware of. What exactly was this document? A Sith artefact? A sensitive bit of information Sidious was a feared would draw attention to them? What?

It really did not matter. Whatever it was, he would still get it back either way, but he wondered on a personal level what it could possibly be that would have put such a bee in Sidious' bonnet to get it back. But he put a cap on his curiosity and continued on his way.

Where he was led, however, was hardly a place he would like to enter. It was called "The Senses' Delight", and it didn't take a genius-level scientist to figure out what that meant it was. So he waited outside. After staking out the place, he found that there was only one entrance and exit in the entire building, so he would wait there for the short man to leave. He could feel the assailant's presence in the building, but he did not dare enter. A place like that was also a central hub for gossip, and where the proprietors' duty is to pay very close attention to their clientele, so it would be extremely hazardous for him to set foot in such a place. Also, he felt a certain strain of mercy for his prey- let him enjoy the last hour or so of his life he had left, and then kill him after extracting every last bit of information from him.

It was always perpetual night down here, so he had no clue what time it was when he finally felt his quarry move out of the doors and into the street. It had been many hours, but time was of no importance to him- he had all the time in the world, as long as he wasn't seen. The man proved to be a stocky Noghri with a pronounced limp, and whose entire aura read "killer for hire". He had an impressive array of weaponry in his belt, askew as it was due to his drunkenness, and he looked as though, when he was sober, he would be able to use them quite well. With mercenaries, one could always tell how good he was by how old he was- if you've survived this long you must be either really bad at getting jobs, or a pretty damn good fighter. A smart employer always went for the mercs over the age of thirty or so, unless a particular merc had a special reputation. This Noghri must have been in his mid-sixties at least.

Maul followed him on his path for a while, eyes ever on the pathetic, staggering and cursing thing who had no idea that its life would end in a matter of minutes, until they had reached a deserted stretch of the street, he ran up to him and pulled him into an alley. His hands gripping the creature's throat, Maul pinned him to the wall.

"Earlier on today, you broke into a Sullustan's apartment and killed a cleaning maid. There was another person with you, or around the same time. What were you looking for? Who was the other man?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The Noghri gasped. "I was on the other side of the planet all day—"

Maul tightened his grip. "Do. Not. Lie. To. Me. What were you looking for?"

"I was looking for some document. I was hired by a gang boss to get it. When I got to the room, it was already ransacked."

"There was another one. Who was he?"

"No- there was just me. I killed the maid and left. That was after I checked the room again to see if there was anything the first guy missed. There wasn't anything."

"Who hired you?"

The Noghri stammered, "Some gang leader. Heinrik Mabi. He's in the Minstrel Hotel, surfaceside. That's all I know, I swear."

Maul sensed no lie from him, so he said, "Good man," and crushed the Noghri's throat and dropped it to the ground, walking away before its head even hit the pavement.

This development was highly unexpected. Heinrik Mabi was the gang boss who owned the document in question. The fact that he was trying to steal it from his own operative, the Sullustan, meant that things were taking a rather shady turn. But all the better- Maul liked it when it got dangerous. He retrieved his speeder bike, and headed off to the Upper level, where Mabi would be.

When he found him, he would also find he answers he was seeking.

"I don't care who this guy is, I don't want to see him. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever!" Heinrik screamed at the intercom, jabbing his middle finger at it for emphasis, even though he knew his secretary could not see it.

"He's very insistent, sir," she protested.

"So am I. Send him away!"

"Very well." The comm went dead on the last note, and a burst of static ensued before he managed to slam off the 'power' button.

That could only mean one thing- and that wasn't a good thing. Heinrik hit the silent alarm, and extracted his illegally modified hold-out blaster from his pocket. His suite was separated from the rest of the hotel by one room, the secretary's atrium; that meant that the man who was coming to get him had only one door between him and his quarry- between Heinrik's life and death, possibly.

And it was through that door that his secretary was thrown, shattering both it and her, and allowing Heinrik to see his predator for the first time. When he looked on that face, he gazed into the eyes of hell itself. Massive, cloaked in black, with a red-tattooed face pulled back in a sneer, and a double-bladed, blazing red lightsaber in its hand, the Zabrak had murder in its eyes.

"This document of yours-the one so many people are trying to get their hands on- what is it, and where is it?" The Zabrak took a few menacing steps forward, twirling his lightsaber in his hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about." That excuse was so overworked, it sounded like a droid's reply when it came out of his mouth.

"Don't lie to me!" Maul made a shoving motion with a single fist, and Heinrik was sent reeling into the glass window overlooking the city, which began to crack as he was pushed ever harder into it with every step forward his assailant took. "If you work with me, we may do some good- play tricks with me, and I'll crush you. Now tell me what it is!"

"I don't know! It's all encrypted, and I don't have a good enough slicer to figure it out."

"Then why do you have it?' Maul growled, baring his teeth.

"Because some guy told me to sell it, get rid of it. He came to me in the street and gave it to me. He told me to sell it to the first person who offered me a price."

"The Sullustan?"

"No, he was my bodyguard, but he took the papers and ran off. I don't know where he went. If I did, I'd kill him."

"As soon as I find him, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Is there anything else you should tell me?"

"No." He reconsidered for a moment. "Yes. Though I don't know if it's of any importance. "There was a note attached to the papers that said something about some kind of old technology. I don't remember what it said, but it's in the locked cupboard of my desk. Top right."

"Thanks very much."

"You're going to let me go now?" Heinrik asked, hopeful.

Maul considered it. "If you promised not to tell anyone about me, I might think about it, but of course you would, so I would have to say... no." He made another shoving motion, and the window shattered against Heinrik's weight, and he fell, eighty stories, down to the ground, where he struck a parked maintenance ground crawler and rebounded off into a road sign, folding around it.

Maul paused to look down and admire his handiwork, the wind pulling off his hood, before turning away and walking to the man's desk. The top right drawer was sealed with an electromagnetic connector and a bunch of wires, some of which went into the bottom of the drawer itself. Maul had pulled out the adjacent drawer to inspect hat needed to be done, before extracting his tool kit and wire cutters and setting to work.

When the last wire was cut, the drawer practically slid open itself, and its contents were left unguarded. But what he saw wasn't what he wanted. _Of__course__it__'__s__another__bomb._

He leapt out the window.

For a few seconds he free-fell, and just before he hit the ground, he stretched his arms out before him, and bent the dark side to his will; for a moment he hung there in mid-air, before he set his feet gently on the ground at the exact instant the bomb was set off, showering him with miniscule pieces of glass, which never made it through the shield of dark side energy.

So, now he was exactly where he had started- chasing a Sullustan through Coruscant to get back stolen property, as well as an additional being who could somehow shield himself from the Force.

_Could __say __it__'__s __fun, __could __say __it__'__s __a __royal __pain __in __the ass__._

Maul returned to his speeder bike. He had another idea that might help out a bit.

The Turbolift Centres of the highest level of Coruscant served also as gathering places for a wide variety of species, all trying to get a few levels down on their own private business. There were a uniform fifty-five lefts ready to descend to nearly the innermost circle of the planet, though that level and those around it had long since been blocked off for the safety of the citizens; the stories of the people who resided there were worse in manner than those of Nar Shadaa itself, not to mention the tales of horrific monsters that lurked behind the veil of every shadow, waiting to spring forth and devour the unwary. The Turbolift Centre was high-security-guarded, and organised and synchronized by the top minds in Civilian Accessories Engineering, but it was the Waiting Room that Maul frequented on tasks such as these; they were where everyone expected their ride, no matter how important the individual was. This Centre was the one nearest the scenes of the crimes, and knowing that the mystery had started on the lower levels, Maul know that, most likely, the one to whom the Force was blind would come here to return there. It was only a hunch, but Maul's hunches usually rang true.

Maul could not be sure that the man would come here at all, but he had felt a tremor in the Force here as soon as he had entered, something that had been drawing him toward it like a fly to honey. He knew that whenever that happened, he had better follow it.

Sitting in a chair close to the middle of the room as possible, he extended his senses, sweeping the room continuously with the Force, looking not for _something_, but an _absence__of__something_. As he had predicted, he found nothing for the first few minutes, but he had had patience drilled into him by his Master long ago, with endless exercises of waiting for a week in the same room, with a fire blazing in front of him while wearing countless layers of thick cloaks, and when his Master returned, he expected to hind him to be in exactly the same place, with exactly the same amount of robes on.

Maul remained motionless, waiting for his quarry to arrive, for the Force told him that it would. His hood obscured his downturned face from anyone who would wish to poke their noses where they didn't belong, and his heavy outer cloak was draped all around him, covering his lightsaber and the other deadly accoutrements attached to his belt. He made not a move while he waited; even when his number came up, telling him that it was his turn to enter the 'lift, he stayed in his seat.

He began to get irritated, and the child in the seat beside his wouldn't shut up, but he forced his agitation and impatience down, and did not move, watching and waiting. Perhaps the Force was, indeed, merely toying with him? Or perhaps he was merely imagining the draw toward this place, and he was here for nothing?

He was about to leave when he left it. It was very subtle, but he noticed it clearly; whereas before he had employed the Force to create a perpetual image of the room, and after so long, he knew exactly what tits shape was, suddenly there was an irregularity in it, about the height and width of the absence he had felt in the hotel room when he had scanned its past. He tilted his head up a fraction of a degree and peered out under the brim of his hood at the newcomer.

He was only mildly surprised to see Billo, the Sullustan standing there, carrying an expensive-looking briefcase. It didn't take much imagination to guess what was inside. Maul didn't move- to make a show in such a crowded, public place would be absolutely unacceptable; he simply remained seated, and watched as his prey sat down in a seat at the far corner, placing his bag in his lap. The Sullustan was dressed in a dark leather suit, more in the style of a posh, foppish mercenary than a businessman's bodyguard, with metal studs and a belt packed with weapons, not all of which looked like they belonged on the civilized markets. He also wore a haversack seemingly loaded with large objects. Maul decided that he looked like a holovid villain. He must have been a mercenary before he was hired by Heinrik to guard his sorry hide, not that he had done a very good job of it.

The Sith Lord made sure that his eyes did not lock onto his target like the amateurs did, but he kept himself aware of his quarry's every move. He withdrew his senses, knowing that the Sullustan would be able to sense the currents of the Force should they persist, though his sense of smell alone was so finely-tuned that he could locate the Billo even without the aid of the Force. That, coupled with his perfect auditory senses, and he could practically see the Sullustan scratch his backside while his eyes were looking in the opposite direction.

When his quarry's number was called, along with a handful of others, Maul waited until Billo had left the waiting room to follow at a slow but not-too-slow pace.

"Excuse me—sir?" The Guard asked as he entered the Turbolift at a hobble, taking on an unfamiliar gait. "I don't believe I saw your boarding pass." She held her hand out expectantly.

"Oh, right, yes. I'm sorry." He fumbled through his empty pockets before handing the guard a handful of air. He used the persuasion of the Force, and easily overcame her mind and filled it with the simple idea "let me pass". The reacted as he knew she would, and said, "Enjoy your day, sir."

"Thanks, you too."

He passed through the security checkpoint and over to where the Sullustan was entering a Turbolift. The pursuer knew that he could simply slip in and leave on the same level that his prey did, but that would arouse too much suspicion, and he needed a workout anyway.

He slithered through the crowd, slipping between shoulders and baggage carts, his eyes fixed on his target's back and his senses perpetually alert for a trap. All the while he impressed upon the minds of the people there was an imprint of "you don't see me," which barreled its way through even the strongest of minds without a trace.

The doors of the Sullustan's 'lift slid shut, and the 'IN USE' light went on above it, though that did not deter him. He approached the Turbolift doors and, strengthening his enforcing of ignorance on the citizens around him, he seized the two halves of the door where they met at the centre, and pulled. At first, nothing happened, but his rage at how long this was taking fuelled his power, and he felt the dark side giving him strength, helping him tear the door apart like two lovers torn from each other's arms, sliding the doors back into their open position, and when the gap was big enough, he slid between them and leapt down into darkness.

Wind howled in his ears, and his cloak flapped out behind him as he plummeted down the shaft after the 'lift. It would have been terrifying to any other being, but Maul knew more than to let himself be ruled by fear- he channeled what little anxiety he did feel into anger, which burned into rage, and which fueled his determination to see this task through to the end, and so he merely focused his attention on discerning how far down the 'lift had gone, and when he would be forced to break his fall. He reached out with his senses, and touched the large capsule, travelling at an astounding speed, where he felt the unearthly nonexistence of the Force, and he knew that his target was still there. The elevator was gradually slowing down as it approached its first stop, so Maul stretched out his hands to either side, where they remained, an inch separating them on either side from the walls of the shaft rushing by. He gently used the Force to pull on the walls, which inevitably pulled him toward them, as he was the unanchored object, but the equal pressure on either side caused him to actually slow down, until he could see the 'lift, onto which he dropped, astoundingly lightly, making not a sound. He felt people leaving the Turbolift at its first stop, but the nothingness remained, meaning Billo was still there. He was so close now, he could end this all now, but he knew he had to wait, to see where the prey was going, and to find who had hired him in the first place; then he would kill them both, and take the papers to his Master. Sidious would be most pleased.

He waited for the rest of the trip, waiting for Billo to leave, but only when the 'lift had reached the very innermost layer of Coruscant that was still reachable by the Turbolifts did the Sullustan actually exit. This was not the bottom layer of the City-planet, as Maul knew, as the lift was a relatively new mode of transportation, and it was far too dangerous for anyone short of a Sith or a Mandalorian army to set foot down on the actual ground of Coruscant, but still Maul could feel the thousands of years this layer of the planet had had remained under the surface. It was rumoured that the only way to get down past this level was through the Jedi Temple itself, which was built up higher and higher, past every layer of the planet from the original earth to the topmost, outermost layer; undoubtedly, the Temple had a lot more secrets than it let be known, down under the surface, where mortals dared not venture.

Maul instantly loved everything about this place. It had a foreign, forbidden feel to it, and every step he took into it was a step closer to death. He cut his way into the Turbolift after Billo had left, and slipped out after him, using the force to mask his presence. Just as the doors were beginning to close, he slipped out, the end of hi cloak leaving barely half a second before they slid shut, and he ducked into the shadows behind the cylinder reaching miles up into the above layers.

It was pitch-dark down here, and only a select few streetlights remained on, in the vicinity of the lift, and those flickered wildly, and were off more than they were on. He timed their flickers in the most likely manner, and when they were off, be it even for barely in instant, he bolted to a different cover spot, all the while keeping his eyes on his quarry should he take any unexpected detours down one of the many narrow sub-streets visible off the main-road they were traversing. Maul could feel his insides bubbling in excitement as he saw the fulfilment of his mission coming into view, and he had to force himself to remain as calm as possible so as to remain hidden from the Sullustan' gaze, though every fiber of his being screamed for blood _now_.

Finally, the Sullustan stopped in the shadow of a doorway and Maul could see someone else waiting there- a Rodian, but the sound of his voice. Billo handed the briefcase to the Rodian and took the massive wad of cash handed to him, before heading back toward Maul's direction, still seemingly oblivious to the Sith's presence.

Maul slipped behind a pile of rubble and over to the doorway, where the Rodian stood, grinning in the strange way his species smiled. A sharp jab with the Force crushed the alien's neck, and after a quick field-strip of the corpse, Maul found the wallet, datapad and comlink of the dead alien. He retrieved the briefcase and went off back in the direction of the lift. He could still feel where the Sullustan was, through the 'empty spot' in the Force, and when he found him, it appeared as though Billo had felt hi presence, as well, as he stood in the middle of the open street with a blaster pistol in his hand.

"The Sith Lord, I presume?" It said in perfect Basic.

Maul nodded.

"I've felt you following me down here. I must say you've done extremely well. Good work. Now if you're going to try to kill me, let's get it overwith."

He fired a pair of bolts at Maul, who deflected them off to the side with ease, advancing slowly. "You've been an interesting adversary, Billo." Maul said, with every bit of honesty.

"Have I?" He grinned. "You don't even know my real name." He dropped his blaster ad reached into the pack on his back. "It's Darth Krallen. I answer to Lord Sidious."

Maul took a step back as a single crimson blade sprung forth from the dull gray hilt, and the Sullustan charged him with all the fury and force of a rancor finally set free of a footlocker after twenty years. Swatting aside his first attacks was not a problem, but Maul soon realized Krallen's true strength was not in the blade, but in the Force. One motion with the Sullustan's stubby hand, and the Zabrak was flung back into the wall of a skyscraper, knocking free the windows and bricks around him as he threw up a cushion of protection around himself, protecting him from being crushed by the force of the impact. But the other Sith was not finished yet. A barrage of bright purple electricity shot from the short fingers and engulfed Maul, who managed to avoid the bulk of the blast, but was still pumped with the lightning in dangerous doses, surging through him and dispersing into the ground after inflicting their agony on him. The assault did not last long, but it was enough to knock Maul off his feet and send him crashing into a pile of rubble.

As he picked himself up off the ground, he grinned, not allowing his adversary to see his agony. "Where have you been all my life?" Maul ignited his lightsaber and charged again, weaving through the continued bursts of electricity from Darth Krallen until he was within striking distance.

His first strike was a test of the Sith's strength, an uppercut which was blocked effectively, but with no finesse, which gave Maul a slight endorphin rush, knowing that he could overcome this enemy if he managed to keep up the assault long enough.

"I've been testing you, Maul." Billo- Krallen- gasped. "You've proven yourself quite worthy."

"Of what?" Maul said between hacks.

"Of helping me obtain what the Rule of Two must entail." He batted a few more attacks away, slowly being driven back toward another building. "We must kill our Master, and claim his title for ourselves- you know this- I know he told you. Sidious cannot be brought down by one of us, but together we can overcome him!"

"You're not even trying." Maul grinned. "You think you can worm yourself out of this? You are going to die, right here, right now. Nothing you can say will deter me."

"I know you better than you think. I've been watching you for many months now. I know what you can do- I know what you are capable of, just how powerful you are! Help me, and together, we can pool our resources and win the Title of Dark Lord for ourselves!"

"What would be in it for me? Only one of us could claim the title- we would have to kill each other afterwards." He let down his attack slightly, becoming intrigued by the proposal, though he would not let Krallen know.

"If that is what would need to be done, then so be it. And besides- you're winning now- helping me would only further your chances of taking the title of Dark Lord."

"And how do I know you won't stab me in the back as soon as the deed is done?"

"A Sith's promises are kept, no matter what the consequences. I promise not to harm you until we fight for the role ourselves, after our Master has been slain. I swear on the Codes and Principles of the Sith Order."

Maul knew what he said was true; a Sith's promises, contrary to the Jedi's slandering, were always kept, once made. It made him realize the sincerity of Krallen's proposal, and the likelihood that they would, indeed, succeed. He pushed the offensive for a short while longer, until finally stepping back and closing down his lightsaber, at the same time Krallen did.

"I accept."

"Good."

Maul hesitated then. "My Master demanded your death. How will we be able to trick him?"

"He would demand proof, am I right?"

"Yes."

"Then take my arm." The Sullustan held his left arm out to the side. "Cut it off. Then Stab the shoulder. The wound would look like it had gone straight into my torso. Such a strike would kill."

Maul was taken aback, and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive. If this is what needs to be done, then so be it."

"Nothing personal, then." Maul ignited one blade and brought it down, severing the limb from its owner. He then took it and plunged it into the shoulder as instructed. Krallen didn't even whimper as he lost his arm.

"You will have to disappear; Sidious would feel your presence if you remained on Coruscant."

"Korriban. There is a settlement there, and the dark side energies would mask my presence from prying eyes."

"Very well." Krallen started to leave, but Maul called out, "Wait. The one who hired you to steal these documents," he pointed to the briefcase lying on the ground outside the area of the duel, where he had dropped it, "who was it?"

"I don't know- that Rodian there called me, and asked me to do it; said he was working for someone as well. Check his comlink, it would probably be on one of the speed-dial buttons."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The Sullustan left without another word, walking off into the shadows of the streets, and Maul returned to the surface.

Lord Sidious dismissed him from his presence, and Maul left the hologram chamber, the door sliding shut behind him as the lights went out. His Master had been pleased with his work, and truly thought "Billo" to be dead, after Maul had shown him the severed arm with the stab wound. He had commended him on the slaying, though Maul told him of the Sullustan's ability to hide from the Force, he said nothing about Krallen's being a Sith, and so Sidious said nothing either.

There was one last thing Maul had to be sure of, though. He took out the Rodian's comlink, and when he returned to his room, hit the only speed-dial button on it.

"After two rings, it was answered by a woman's voice. "Office of Senator Palpatine, how may I help you?"

He quickly shut it down, plunging it back into his pocket.


End file.
